Resurgence!

While we love to keep in touch with all of our loyal fans with our current work, sometimes we find ourselves a bit overloaded with decision making and design work. A number of people have recently approached us asking if this discussion would hopefully continue to be updated, and to that, we would like to announce that you can expect much more in the coming months from us.

Most of you may already know of our move to the new location ("New" being a relative term, as we've been well settled here for a year or so) . The space has been working out very nicely so far, minus some of the "visitors" that make the occasional appearance during the colder months. Never the less, we've also been able to keep busy with some interesting projects within the Twin Cities and beyond. If you take a look at our website (under "in progress"), some of these have been already been posted. We're hoping this blog will give a taste of some of the daily conversation and decisions that are integral into the completion of these projects.

In the mean time, check out this video. Some (including myself) would suggest that the essence of this represents a lot of the beauty and majesty of what good space can be. Regardless of whether you are as nerdy about buildings as we are, it is an impressive display of CG rendering (that is, done exclusively by computers), by a single person no less. Enjoy!

The Third And the Seventh - Alex Roman

Farewell sweet workspace...

It's been a great first 3 years in our space -- the cradle of our practice, the lunchroom of our salad days, the fledgling command center of future market domination -- and we'll miss it : the windows the light the old brick the neighborhood of trees the fire station and black-smocked Aveda girls diurnal migration and the no parking (won't miss that) and Vesper College downstairs and Brasa across the street and all the restaurants and the River right there and White Castle and Surdyk's everlasting tasting and oompa loompa deli workers and the mad collision of Central & Hennepin at the ragged edge of the last wave of development petering out..the insurance guy in the shack below the billboard on the shoal of curb & gutter...the mute dusty corpse of Totino's...

Ahhh --

Yeah, we'll miss it -- but the new space will be even cooler! Stay tuned...

(Many thanks to Scott Gilbertson for coming over on short notice to professionally document our fair and soon-to-be erstwhile workspace before we proceeded to start tearing it apart...for more of Scott's images as well as some portraits of a partnership in perpetual transition, walk this way...)

The Latest in Lake Homes

A RoehrSchmitt home in Northern Minnesota. Completed this fall. Stay tuned for more.

New Work

Something new we're working on. An aircraft museum developed in two days. Fast and fun.

Gotting Residence Featured in Star Tribune

RoehrSchmitt Architecture was pleased to be featured in the June 21st, 2009 issue of The Star Tribunes Sunday Home section with an article entitled "A One-Bedroom Wonder". The article profiled one of our most recent projects, the Gotting Residence in Northeast Minneapolis. Check it out here

Juliet House wins Home of the Month 2009-10

Last Wednesday we learned that our Juliet House project won one of twelve coveted spots for a monthly feature in the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. The 7th annual competition is co-sponsored by the AIA Minnesota & the Star Tribune. Look for it in the coming year, and check out all the winners at the AIA MN website http://www.aia-mn.org/hotm/09.cfm

A Design Process Explained

Three projects presented by Joshua Prince-Ramus of Rem Koolhaus' OMA.



A lengthy video but worth the time. The fundamental belief in the elegance of the diagram is inspiring.

Feasibility

From the British sketch comedy show SMACK THE PONY a critique. Is it feasible?



If this is what you think of the value of architects come let us change your minds.

More Parkour

Danish film maker Kaspar Astrup Schröder is currently finishing MY PLAYGROUND, a documentary on movement, tricking, freerunning and parkour, and its relation with urban spaces. The documentary will feature scenes with parkour masters Team Jiyo and interviews with urban planners, local politicians, architects and philosophers.

The trailer uses the Mountain Dwellings by BIG as a playground for the traceurs. The film is expected to be premiered in the summer of 2009.

Juliet House to be featured in Fine Homebuilding Magazine

I just spent a long, exhausting day helping Fine Homebuilding itinerant editor and photographer Chuck Miller document our Juliet House for the '08 Spring/Summer "HOMES" issue of the magazine. The house was one of almost 300 submitted for the issue, and one of only eight to be selected. While the work typically represented in the magazine favors a more traditional aesthetic, they are working to broaden that approach to include a wider range of houses that embody innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges of creating great houses. We look forward to this issue hitting the news stands April 29 of next year.

Burning Things

We’ve been doing some research about the pros and cons of fireplaces and stoves and the fuel choices of wood vs. gas. It's an interesting discussion and I thought I would make our research available. I apologize for the link intensive nature of this post. I attempted to categorize and sort. Enjoy.

The following links lay out the choice between gas and wood. Interestingly the consensus seems to be that wood is more environmentally friendly if you are in a location where wood is abundant. Both are quite efficient if you buy the right product. The smallest stoves and fireplaces will effectively heat a space of approximately 1,000 square feet. An efficient wood stove can be filled with wood and last up to 8 hours without having to add more fuel. The big trick seems to be purchasing an EPA approved product. This will ensure that you get a product rated for efficiency that can be compared to other models.

Article from the Portland Tribune comparing the advantages of wood vs. gas

Is burning wood greener than burning gas?

Stoves vs. Fireplaces

The Case for Wood

The governments opinion

Well designed modern stoves and fireplaces are limited. There are many more European manufacturers making modern stoves that aren't available in the U.S. The Franklin stove aesthetic still rules America. Of the modern designs available, many seem to be designed to compete with TV's. Odd.

Here are a few manufacturers that make interesting products.

Wittus - New York

AustroFlamm - Great Name

Morso - Tennessee

Malm - Old School